I have 15 years of experience in electrical and NEVER knew about the tin foil trick. I just used this in my mom's house to identify a coaxial cable in her living room, and it worked perfectly. Thank you!
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Thanks! I'm glad it worked for you
@Peter_Riis_DK Жыл бұрын
Really?!
@DominickRuocco Жыл бұрын
@Peter_Riis_DK Yes, it works. Try it yourself.
@iminyomommy7889 Жыл бұрын
Trust me dude I’ve been doing it for about a good three years strong often on and you’re not missing anything. Because that is the longest way to Matt coaxial cable all you need is the toner in touch and go toner where you don’t have to worry about tvOS work of adding for Yulin touching to ins and then going downstairs and check another two wins where the touch and go Turner will automatically detect call Dee Ave home about you just having all the collector cables
@iminyomommy7889 Жыл бұрын
The easiest way that I have found is if you get one of those toners from Cline do you attach the receiver on one end and take your wand go downstairs and just tap all the coaxial until you get a beep
@GB-rb1up9 ай бұрын
Genius way of keeping it simple! A low-tech solution to a high-tech problem.
@noelelnolo964210 ай бұрын
Sometimes the least technological method is the easiest and the cheapest. Great job!!
@VetteVet49317 сағат бұрын
Thanks so much! I was just about to buy a coax tester for this purpose, only to probably have it sit on my workbench forever after that! Excellent information!
@johnpietersen9324 күн бұрын
This is an incredible hack. I was just shopping for a coax cable tester when I saw this. Thanks!!!
@FireFighter0254 Жыл бұрын
I was a CATV contractor back in the day, late 80's - early 90's. This is what we used when coming to a large prewired facility, home and/or apartment building with zero identification of the cabling. We took a green LED, inserted the positive (+) lead into an F-81 barrel connector and the negative (-) lead shortened and placed it touching the outside of the connector. Then inserted the LED inside of an RG-6 connector where the dielectric typically resides. Lastly, a short piece of coax cable, a 9-volt battery with the braid connected to the neg (-) of a 9V battery harness , and the stinger (center conductor) of the cable to the pos (+) of the battery harness. Tape the battery to the cable neatly with electrical tape and secure the connections and wrap with tape. Finally, terminate a coax connector to the other end. You then take the battery end of your new tool, snap the battery harness connector to the battery, screw into any faceplate. Then go to the head end and start inserting the unmarked cables into the F-81 end of your new tool. When you select the line with the 9V, the LED lights up.
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Wow. Sounds complicated but I'd like to see it.
@FireFighter0254 Жыл бұрын
@@therenodummy Yes, may sound complicated but actually very easy and takes about 5 minutes to make one. I still have my original one somewhere, saw it not too long ago. I'll see if I can locate it.
@MusicEducationwiththeMan Жыл бұрын
Wow, how ingenious! Three Years ago we moved into a large two story house. I believe that a coaxial cable runs from where a tv antenna use to be, to our television in our TV Room. Now I know how to test the continuity of the coaxial cable. I will have to go into the attic when colder weather arrives in South Texas. Thank you!
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
I'm in Alabama. So I feel you on waiting until cold weather!
@TheNightShiftt2 жыл бұрын
This is so simple yet so smart thank you for this I just got a house and there is so many coaxial cables in here and it’s too hot to go up in the attic this makes it so much easier to see what cables are actually outside for internet
@therenodummy2 жыл бұрын
Thanks! My house was the same way. Tons of unlabeled cables!
@huy3148 Жыл бұрын
@@therenodummy Hi, I see the orange clip you use to name, lable the cable. What is that? Could you please tell me the product brand or Amazon link? thanks and best wishes
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
@@huy3148 here is the link but it looks like they're not available right now www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H26CHGJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
@Toky0J9 ай бұрын
This worked like a charm! I have 9 cables going into a box outside and only need 1 connected, and this helped save me a ton of time. Thank you so much for making this video!!
@tlongsway4 ай бұрын
Just used your method and figured out my issues in less than 5 minutes. Four minutes was spent walking up and down my stairs. LOL Thank you!
@00juz5 ай бұрын
I have no words man how simple a trick this is and yet my smooth brain could have never imagined it. Thank you so much for sharing this buddy!
@mattpopovich9 ай бұрын
Worked to identify coax cables from 1970 in my house. Thank you!
@baldorthewizard2 ай бұрын
Thank you for saving my day, this made figuring stuff out with my birds nest so much faster.
@rusty2407 Жыл бұрын
You can also determine the length and integrity of the outlet by using a 75ohm terminator instead of the aluminum foil. A 100’ outlet will read 79ohms as RG6 picks up roughly 1 ohm per 25’ of coaxial cable length.
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
That's a great idea as well. Not everyone has terminators but if you did that'd be a great method. Thanks for the input.
@be2362 жыл бұрын
Nice tip using aluminum foil to cause the short circuit (closed loop) to test for continuity. I'll have to try this on my various cables thru the house...
@CoryG-r4u4 ай бұрын
Wow! I was thinking maybe a AA battery and use multimeter and gauge voltage which maybe wasn’t the best idea and found your video and so glad I did! Makes so much sense, thank you for the video, worked perfect and mapped all 12 coaxial is in my house, saved me $80 from the cable company coming to look at lines in house.
@johnjschultz54149 ай бұрын
The foil trick is what I was looking for. Now I can proceed with the MoCA setup. Thank you!
@johnnygonzales32117 ай бұрын
Thanks awesome info I'm going to use this method in my RV.
@JB113358 ай бұрын
Thank you for saving me from purchasing a coaxial tester! You the real MVP!
@weezintrumpeteer8 ай бұрын
This was a great, clear, concise video that solved my problem. Thank you!
@erroric_5 ай бұрын
This was unbelievably helpful. Thank you.
@wayne3529 ай бұрын
Awesome and simple trick just answered my question! Clear and concise video!! Good job!
@grenebulax Жыл бұрын
Perfect! Didn't want to buy a tool I would only use once.
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Great. Glad it helped.
@grenebulax Жыл бұрын
@@therenodummy it worked amazingly. Was moving a modem to a different room and didn't want to trace lines. Thought I messed up at first because it worked on the very first cable I tried. But just got lucky I guess. Definitely remembering this little life hack and will pass it along. Thanks again.
@JeffDeanTheDeanZone Жыл бұрын
Good job! When the Cable company came over and hooked me up cable service through my router and modem (using smart TVs) I had a cable connection in every room and they all worked. I had just bought the house and the inspectors checked them. I also had a multiple connector amplifier in my attic where all the cables converged and connected. I even had cable out to my pool area. I could have a tv in any room I wanted. The cable guy CUT all of my cables in the attic. He went to the wall jacks and cut the cables and removed the connectors so there were just holes. He took the amplifier with him when he left. I got crappy service with the cable company and they kept raising the prices every few months. So I bought a large digital antenna. I live in an area where you can get about 25 channels for free via antenna. However, all the cable ends will now have to be repaired and I will have to map all of those cables. You just made the job tenable.
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Wow. That'd make me so mad. Well I'm glad this helped a little
@JeffDeanTheDeanZone Жыл бұрын
@@therenodummy You could, instead of using a piece of foil, get yourself a coaxial splitter and then take your spare small coaxial cable and hook it to both outputs, then put the cable you're trying to find into the input.
@paulguerrero35602 жыл бұрын
I just bought me a Channel Master Antenna w/the Mounting Pole, Mounting Bracket & the Amplifier, so tomorrow I will try to do the cable tracing. Thank You for your Video.
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Great. I'm glad it helped! I hope your install went smoothly.
@kevinthompson1064 Жыл бұрын
Yesssss!! Never even thought about the ball of aluminum foil..1/2 way thru finding/labeling all of mine!
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Awesome. Glad it helped
@JJFlores1973 ай бұрын
I'm going to have to give this a try. Thanks! Although coax won't be too pertinent anymore at my house since I just got fiber installed, I'm still going to map out the coax runs just in case.
@matheusalves861819 күн бұрын
Thank you! You saved me so much time!
@tpmarkham9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much!!! This was so simple, and I already own a couple of multimeters.
@jakeweiser278111 ай бұрын
You’re a genius!!! This saved me hours of hassle. Thanks!
@nickw80662 жыл бұрын
Excellent idea, I was dreading having to buy a special tool. Thanks for saving me some $$!
@therenodummy2 жыл бұрын
I'm glad it helped
@researchcapt2 жыл бұрын
I would first test to see if any are shorted before doing the test.
@idallover3034 ай бұрын
This is an excellent video! Very handy trick. I'm going to send this video to the cable guy who keeps running cables all over the neighborhood outside from the utility box into/across people's yards into their living rooms cause the utility box is a rats nest.
@Trucker20046 ай бұрын
Yes, tx. Will use this to sort all these cables that era giving a crazy headache !
@Sweet_Sour_kid_Friendly Жыл бұрын
Thanks for the info! Appreciate people like you on KZbin that guide us thru situation like this one!
@trikerjon2 жыл бұрын
Thank you great video. Been trying to figure this out for a long time 👍
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
You're welcome!
@DJWRailroad5 ай бұрын
Yeah, outstanding vid, delivery, job in general.
@Blessd-savingrace3 жыл бұрын
Wow! I didn't know ANYTHING about cable let alone how 2 do this!! Thank you for 5 sharing this video
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Great. I'm glad it helped!
@JumbleTronChannel2 жыл бұрын
This is the genius hack I've been looking for. Thank you 👍👍👍
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Great. Glad it was helpful!
@Johnlee05132 жыл бұрын
Thanks you just saved me 50 bucks....I was all set to buy an ADM
@therenodummy2 жыл бұрын
That's great!
@adamwberanek2 жыл бұрын
I just bought a house that I'm pretty sure has at least 30 coax cables running through it - for TVs I guess? Not sure why some rooms need 2, 3 or 4 connectors but this little trick will help me know how to start pulling them out - thanks!
@brianholz9882 Жыл бұрын
Don’t pull them out. Leave them for future use. I can use coax for many things.
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
True.
@adamwberanek Жыл бұрын
@@brianholz9882 What are some things you can use them for?
@brianholz9882 Жыл бұрын
@@adamwberanek voice, data, cable, and even run Ethernet through it with a MoCA adapter
@adamwberanek Жыл бұрын
@@brianholz9882 okay that's pretty cool, thanks for sharing!
@junglemastah7 ай бұрын
Dude fantastic! 🔥 Edit, worked like a charm!
@chrish44832 жыл бұрын
Thank you! Great video! Saved my butt trying to map RG6 cable in my motorcoach
@therenodummy2 жыл бұрын
That's awesome!
@BruceH-ii7tx11 ай бұрын
Just did this and it worked perfectly! Thank you
@tonysdroid Жыл бұрын
Worked great! Thanks a lot!
@h.ar.29372 ай бұрын
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="57">0:57</a> I freaked out I was alone at home and thought this was coming from inside the house😂😂😂
@dankeeton95996 ай бұрын
Thanks I was going to use a jumper wire with alligator clips but I think the aluminum ball will be a lot easier
@aoningjaney8958 ай бұрын
Thank you for this very super useful video
@DrDangleyLegs Жыл бұрын
Hey, thanks for this. The tin foil method didnt work for me, but gave me another idea. I had some crocodile clip leads so attached those to a AA battery on one end, then used my meter to measure voltage on the other end. This worked for me.
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
That's a great idea!
@Lemonades132111 ай бұрын
How did you clip it to the double A batteries especially the neg side?
@rexriley27353 ай бұрын
Brilliant! You saved me big time. Thanks!!
@mudko35899 ай бұрын
This is clutch. Thank you!
@jamesthann94882 ай бұрын
This really helped me, thank you!👌
@biggdaddyyourhonor54183 ай бұрын
You the Man, thanks for the tip!
@CaliAndrew18 Жыл бұрын
Dude. Great job. Thank you so much for something so easy.
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
I'm glad it helped. Please subscribe
@xspixels Жыл бұрын
this is exactly what I was looking for! thanks!
@daveprice6870 Жыл бұрын
Brilliantly made video helped me so much, thank you.👍
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Awesome. Thanks for the kind words.
@NathanTaylor19 ай бұрын
I am so glad I found this. Now that I know which cables lead where, does anyone have advice on selecting an amplifier? When I tested with an HDHomeRun/antenna instead of using this method, it couldn't find any channels at all. The Mohu amp I had laying around didn't do squat either. Is this a different type of amplifier? $50 Televes Distribution something something? TIA
@dtheoharides3 ай бұрын
Smart idea... worked slick!
@AnonQC Жыл бұрын
👏👏👏You *just won yourself a new subscriber👏👏👏👍
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Ha. I'm glad it helped
@AnonQC Жыл бұрын
@@therenodummy my landlord got a old appartement building and and ask me 2 days a go to fix the cable in one of the unit, wen i wen to look for the cable entry point... i saw around 5 different cable in the unit and maybe around 12 going to the dmx tower for the old tv air antena and 4 going to the cable company box. so I will use this hack on a chosen cable in side and go test the 16 different one outside ^^
@tinapruitt56482 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this all the issues bought has had four different satellite TV services the correct have been cut and who knows what else😔 I noticed where my heating unit is there is a splitter thingy that has to cables going somewhere but nothing running into it. I’m hoping your Handy dandy video solves The mystery so I can plug in my TV Antenna :)
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Great. I'm glad it helped!
@elfnetdesigns7026 ай бұрын
RG6U 75 ohm TV cable has a steel center conductor that is copper coated it's not solid copper.. Now this trick will help you trace down lines to their destinations but it will not show you if the cable is compromised which will affect things like internet service to a modem. Chances are the cables will be fine thopugh but if you have any issues with signal quality then you may need to replace that run or move your equipment to a different jack
@stonee19682 жыл бұрын
Great video - exact info i needed.
@therenodummy2 жыл бұрын
I'm glad it helped.
@diyi757 күн бұрын
Brilliant 😮
@lcldan5 ай бұрын
Thank you so much.
@mikedeee6968 Жыл бұрын
Incredible!
@amerc71132 жыл бұрын
Thanks, this method was super helpful
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Glad it helped!
@xmultanix2 жыл бұрын
I'm going to try this tomorrow. Thanks!
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Let me know if it worked for you
@covertolds5932 Жыл бұрын
Brilliant! I have some work to do. Thanks.
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Hope it works for you!
@lungilempati52652 жыл бұрын
Great video...this should solve my problem
@hoapologist2 жыл бұрын
Very simple and helpful. Thankyou
@therenodummy2 жыл бұрын
Good to hear. Thanks!
@dr.octagon94502 ай бұрын
Brah you saved me $20 🤙
@leathermule48244 ай бұрын
Very smart trick 😅
@TheMeathead5511 ай бұрын
Thank you
@MOPAC856 ай бұрын
I’m wondering if a barrel connector could be a substitute for the foil?
@therenodummy6 ай бұрын
I would think metal coax caps could work but the barrel connector won't complete the circuit by itself.
@coffeedrinker88 Жыл бұрын
very helpful, thank you.
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Glad it was helpful!
@yoyosauto28362 жыл бұрын
It is one of the best Wey Thank you
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
You're welcome!
@bzldzl11 ай бұрын
Low drag high speed. 👍
@MOPAC85 Жыл бұрын
Great video Sir.
@istvan_m4 ай бұрын
Great idea
@robangleton3329 Жыл бұрын
Instead of aluminum foil, just use alligator clips. One clip to the outer connector, and the other on the stinger(copper pin).
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
That'd be easier. I need to get some alligator clips for my multimeter. It didn't come with any.
@Jim-re3sr2 жыл бұрын
Great video
@therenodummy2 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
@justwesley Жыл бұрын
Smart👍
@alexandermilleriii49922 күн бұрын
Genius
@EdGattsek3 ай бұрын
Super helpful. Ty
@bewarethedecks Жыл бұрын
The cable shown @ the <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="212">3:32</a> mark was incorrectly prepped. There shouldn't be any shielding sticking out from the connector. Home Depot and Lowes sell tools that can strip the proper amounts of the different layers to make a solid connection. Compression and crimp connectors are preferred over twist-on. 🙂
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Compression and crimp connectors are better no doubt.
@makeperceive2 жыл бұрын
Thank you, very useful
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Great. I'm glad it helped!
@leakyjeep5.92 жыл бұрын
Amazing. Worked!
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Great. I'm glad it helped!
@andrewskyes9956 Жыл бұрын
If the cable doesn't have the cap i can put one connector on the mesh and another on the copper wire ? and if it has signal on it i should get the beep?
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
Yea that should work the same way. The cap just makes it easier.
@428BP Жыл бұрын
What if you only have a wire no that would go directly into a tv? There’s no coax plate on the wall or anything??
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
If it's just the bare copper sticking out of the cable then you'll need to put a connector on.
@pleappleappleapАй бұрын
This is great, but it doesn't really trace anything. I need to know the routing behind the wall.
@JohnSmith-oj3uu Жыл бұрын
Sweet thanks!
@IAmJamesCalhoun7 ай бұрын
Does that still work if there a splitter on it from your starting point to the end point?
@therenodummy7 ай бұрын
I would think as long as it's all connected it should still work.
@Ricklepick-im8dp2 ай бұрын
Anyone have any other tricks to substitute tin foil? Just curious
@johngalt156 Жыл бұрын
Help! I have 11 coax to various places over 3 stories and one feed coax from fios ont. all but 3 have tone?! I places 3 foil balls as you showed, one on each floor??? Could my coax network be opposite, where 3 with foil get no tone and all others without do get tone?!?!? Help
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
If 3 of the coax have tone and you're only using one tin foil ball on one coax then I would think those 3 are connected to a splitter somewhere
@johngalt156 Жыл бұрын
@@therenodummy each of the 3 had the foil? Strange
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
@@johngalt156 I don't think I understand what you have going on. What I would do is find the splitter that the main feed connects to. Then I would put one foil ball on one coax at a time until I have mapped all of them.
@godsgiftmaggot8982 ай бұрын
Where can I get tin foil? (they quit making it in 1968)
@AppleiOSGenius2 жыл бұрын
Can I use multimeter to see if the ethernet cable on 1 end links to the coaxial on the other end, I think there is a convertor adapter connecting both of them or else it is split to merge them for PoE except to coaxial - it is an old camera system and I fluked it but can't find the ethernet connection. And on old DVR cameras mostly is coaxial and wondering if this trick would work or another idea would work.
@therenodummy2 жыл бұрын
Good question. I haven't done any work with Ethernet cables so I don't the answer. Sorry. Let me know if you figure out a way. The only thing I would hope is that the coaxial adapter is right behind one of the wall plates. Then you could unhook it and just test both ends of the coaxial.
@nickparini-ec7ee Жыл бұрын
Could I use a multimeter to find the main coax cable ? We just moved into a new house and we have a ton of disconnected cables and I’m not even sure what the main cable is to connect to the splitter
@therenodummy Жыл бұрын
I would either trace it from where it enters the house or you could use this trick and find all the ones that are not the main line and then you'll know which one is the main...
@rickhellard14069 ай бұрын
my multimeter does not beep. Any hints?
@readynow123452 жыл бұрын
How about this, connect it to your tv & if you get a signal it works.
@therenodummy2 жыл бұрын
Ha. That is true. However I didn't want to carry a TV to every room in my house to map them.